Shredder type culinary article



April 25, 1950 M. HAYMAN ET AL SHREDDER TYPE CULINARY ARTICLE Filed May20, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

3 Fl I-:3 INVENTORS Max Hai man k BY C-W. G 0- en ATTORNEY April 25,1950 Filed May 20, 1947 M. HAYMAN ET AL 2,505,114

SHREDDER TYPE CULINARY ARTICLE 2 sheets-sheave UUUUUU'U INVENTORS MaxHagman k BY CW 6 alen QGM ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 25, 1950 SHREDDEB TYRECULINARY ARTICLE .Max Hayrnan and Clarence W. Galen, Battle Creek, Mich,assignors to Gustave 'Heyman and Max Hayman, Mich.

Ap lication May .0-,

"Claims.

The present invention. relates broadly to a culinary article, and in itspecific phases to .a colander type shredder.

' Slicing or shreddingfoods such as cabbage, po-

jo'in-tly, both .of Battle Greek,

1947, Serial No. 749,302

tatoes, carrots, onions, cheese, et .cetera, is a very common procedurecarried. on .by both housewives and commercial cooks. To do this workseveral different types of manually operated shredders have beenproposed with the bulk of them inherently subject to the danger ofcutting the users fingers which hold the item being shreddedandparticularly so when that item becomes reduced in size. In certain.instances special equipment: has been developed to avoid this condition,for example, mechanical devices for holding a potato while slicing it.to produce potato chips. The problem has been so difficult of solutionthat machine shredded kraut, coconut, cheese, fresh vegetables, .et.cetera, are regular 1y purchasable on the open market. :One of themanually operated shredders which have been proposed, and which isparticularly subject to cutting the operators fingers, is of .bOWl shapewith a pair of cutting blade panels mounted on opposite sides of thebowl. In usi g that. assembly the bowl is placed upright to catch theslices or shreds produced while the operator passes the item to be outup and down one of the cutting blade panels. on the under side of thebowl whe the position of the hand relative-to the knives cannot. bewatched.v It was a recognition of the problem involved, its inherentdifficulties. and the shortcomings .ofthe prior art, which led. to. theconception and development of the present invention.

Accordingly among the objects. of the present invention is the provisionof a shredder ..assem bly which is shaped like a colander with a largeopen top, has inwardly tapering sides, and la relatively small base withrounded *teet, said shredder having outwardly projecting cutters withtheir cutting edges up when the open end of the assembly is down.

Another object is to provide a shredder assembly having perforations inits sides andbottom in addition to side cutters, all. of. which act asdrainage openings when same is mounted op n s de up and used as. a.colander.

Another obje t is toprovidea shredder assent ly w a pl rality of relativly flat panels, each panel having a different size outwardl rojectingcutter-or cutters adapted .for use with the. assent: bly mounted on. asuitable surface. with itslarge open end down, a thing whichaids instabilizeing the assembly as well as keeping the cutting operation underdirect observation.

Another object is to provide a shredder assembly which has safety guidesalong side of each of the cutter panels as an aid to protecting theusers fingers from injury on the cutting edges.

A further object is to provide a shredder assemblywh-ich in someconstructions will have the cutting or shredding portions made in theform of separate panels which may be either removable or permanentlymounted in place on the body of the shredder assembly.

A further object is to provide a shredder assembly which may becompletely made as a stamping, or may have separate cutting or shreddingpanels either fastenable to a stamping or to a die casting of suitablemetal or plastic.

A further object is to provide a combination shredder and colander whichis simple in construction and easy to use in safe manner.

Still further objects and advantages of the present invention willappear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention,then, consists of the means hereinafter ,fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed draw ings and thefollowing description setting forth I in detail certain means .forcarryin out the invention, such disclosed means illustrat g however, butseveral of various ways in wh ch the principle of the invention may beused.

.In the annexed drawings:

Figure 1 shows a perspective View of a pre ferred .form of the shredderof the present invention with same in normal shreddin position.

Figure .2 shows a view of the inside of the shred der assembly as seenfrom the bottom of Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a fragmentary modified construction where separatelyformed panels carry-.- ing. the cutting blades of the shredder aremountable on the shredder body in conventional man- 1181'.

Referring more particularly to Figure l of the drawing, it will be notedthat the present invention involves a tapered side body member I whichpreferably has a flange .2 at its to or open end, and roi-inded feet .3at its bottom or lowe end. In. order to make the apparatus easier tohandle,

same be provided with handles 4 and 5.

Body member I is provided with four substantialiyfiat shredder panels 6,T, .8, and 9 Shredder .5 as single anguiarly mounted out: tins blade.it, which is particularly ad pted tor; the shredding of. cabbageor the.slicing of. penpers, potatoes, or the like. Shredder panels I, 8, and 9,on the other hand, have small, medium, and large individual cutters H instaggered row multiple groups suitable for narrow strip shredding orcutting of onions, carrots, cheese, coconut, or the like. The cuttingedges l2 of these cutters are formed so that with the shredder assemblymounted open top down as shown in Figure 1, the cutting edges will be upand outwardly directed to facilitate shredding by downward passage ofthe item to be shredded, over the cutters l I, while under clearobservation. The open top of the shredder assembly forms a large basefor the shredder under conditions of use, thus stabilizing it againstdangerous slipping accidents, and at the same time, the bottom or footportion presents smoothly rounded surfaces which allow the operator toplace one hand on same and thus hold the shredder substantially againstmovement under conditions of use.

Recognizing that injury to the user of a shredder is a commonoccurrence, the present shredder is provided with outwardly projectingsafety guides i3 on opposite sides of each of the shredder panels. Theseraised safety guides are such that the user may conventionally hold inher fingers the article to be shredded, and yet keep her fingers steadyand away from the cutting edges by sliding the heel, or even the edge,of her hand up and down one of these safety guides regardless of whethershe is right handed or left handed. At the same time, this permits closeobservation of the shredding procedure at all times, and facilitatessafe operation.

In preferred construction, the flare of the sides of the shredder bodymember together with cutters H and safety guides I3 is such that samemay be formed as a stamping with the inner or male die freely removabletherefrom. The final shredder assembly may be produced in various ways,of which perhaps one of the more convenient would be to first form aplain blank following which the shredder panels and safety guides couldbe formed, and perhaps lastly, the perforations could be made in thebottom of the shredder and substantially from safety guide rib to safetyguide rib between panels. Where handles are used, same would be normallyriveted or welded in place as one of the final operations. The cuttingedges E2 of the shredders would also be sharpened in conventional mannerand if desired, the whole assembly would be plated for appearance andrust resistance.

Instead of having the cutters II made as an integral part of theshredder body member, same may be made as part of separate panels. [4,Figure 3, adapted to be mounted over openings [5 in body member 5. Thesepanels may be made removable such as with interlocking members Hi andscrews H, or if desired these panels may be welded or riveted intoplace, or die cast in place as inserts where the body member I of thecolander is made of either die cast metal or plastic, and it is intendedthat the showing in Figure 3 be considered as diagrammaticallyillustrating all of these various constructions.

, While the present invention is primarily a shredder, it will be notedthat by inverting same so that the open end is up, it becomes a colanderwherein the perforations as well as the colander cutters form drainageopenings thus meeting standard colander requirements.

Other modes of applying the principle of our invention may be employedinstead of those ex plained, change being made as regards the articleand combinations disclosed, provided the 4 means stated by any of thefollowing claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as ourinvention:

1. A culinary device of the character described, which comprises atapered body member with an open upper end and a fiat closed lower end,and at least one cutter panel on the side of said body member, saidcutter panel having outwardly projecting cutter means, said cutter meanshaving the cutting edge thereof directed away from the open end of thebody member, said lower end having an unobstructed bottom surfaceadapted as a hand rest when said body is inverted.

2. A culinary device of the character described, which comprises atapered body member with an open upper end and a fiat closed lower end,substantially flat cutter panels on the side of said body member, said.cutter panels having at least one outwardly projecting cutter means,said cutter means having the cutting edge thereof directed away fromsaid open endof the body member, said lower end having an unobstructedbottom surface adapted as a hand rest when said body is inverted, andguard ribs projecting outwardly from said panels at least as far as saidcutter means and extending alongside said means.

3. A combination shredder and colander apparatus, which comprises aperforated bowl shaped member having an open top and a fiat closedbottom adapted for a hand rest when said member is inverted, at leastone generally flat separate cutter panel, said body member having asuitable opening for said cutter panel, and means for fastening saidcutter panel on said body member over said opening, said cutter panelhaving at least one outwardly projecting cutter means, said cutter meanshaving the cutting edge thereof directed away from the open end of saidbody member when said cutter panel is fastened thereon, and guard ribsembossed outwardly from said body alongside said opening and projectingoutwardly at least as far as said cutter means.

4. A combination shredder and colander apparatus, which comprises aperforated bowl shaped body member having an open top and a flat closedbottom adapted for a hand rest when said member is inverted, at leastone separate cutter panel, said body member having a suitable openingfor said cutter panel, means for fastening said cutter panel on saidbody member over said opening, said cutter panel having at least oneoutwardly projecting cutter means, said cutter means having the cuttingedge thereof directed away from the open end of said body member whensaid cutter panel is fastened thereon, and outward projecting safetyguide means along side of said cutter panel and extending in a directionfrom the top of said bowl shaped body toward the bottom thereof.

5. A combination shredder and colander apparatus, which comprises aperforated bowl shaped body member with a relatively large open top anda closed bottom adapted on its underside as a hand rest when said memberis inverted and having foot members projecting downwardly from thebottom thereof, a plurality of cutter panels on the side portion of saidbody member, each of said cutter panels having outwardly projectingcutter means, said cutter means having the cutting edge thereof directedaway from the open top of the body member, and outwardly-projectingsafety guide ribs at theopposite side edges of at least one of saidcutter panels and extending in a direction from the top of said bowlshaped body toward the bottom thereof while projecting outward furtherthan said cutters.

6. A combined shredder and colander comprising a single piece integralbowl-shaped body of sheet material, said body having four plane sidepanels disposed in downwardly converging relation and joined at theirbottom by a fiat perforate bottom panel approximating the size of thepalm of a hand, said bottom having rounded foot elements presseddownwardly therefrom, rounded perforate corner panels joining the sideedges of said side panels and extending to the tops thereof to form acontinuous planar rim on said body, at least one of said side panelshaving shredding teeth stamped outwardly therefrom with the cuttingedges of the teeth facing downwardly, and outwardly projecting smoothlyrounded guard ribs pressed from said side panels and extending alongeach side of the teeth therein, said ribs projecting from said panels atleast as far as the teeth project from the panel and terminating attheir lower ends in tapered converging relation to the panels.

'7. A combined shredder and colander comprising a single piece integralbowl-shaped body of sheet material, said body having a plurality ofgenerally flat side panels disposed in downwardly converging relationand joined at their bottom by a perforate bottom panel approximating thesize of the palm of a hand, said bottom having rounded foot elementspressed downwardly therefrom, rounded corner panels joining the sideedges of said side panels and extending to the tops thereof to form acontinuous planar rim on said body, said side panels having shreddingteeth stamped outwardly therefrom with the cutting edges of the teethfacing downwardly, and outwardly projecting smoothly rounded guard ribspressed from said side panels and extending along each side of the teeththerein, said ribs projecting from said panels at least as far as theteeth project from the panel and terminating at their lower ends intapered converging relation to the panels.

8. A combined shredder and colander comprising an integral bowl-shapedbody, said body having a plurality of generally flat side panelsdisposed in downwardly converging relation and joined at their bottom bya bottom panel having an unobstructed lower surface adapted as a handrest when said body is inverted, said bottom having rounded footelements pressed downwardly therefrom, rounded perforate corner panelsjoining the side edges of said side panels in approximately tangentialfashion and extending to the tops thereof to form a continuous planarrim on said body, said side panels having shredding teeth projectingoutwardly therefrom with the cutting edges of the teeth facingdownwardly, and outwardly projecting smoothly rounded guard ribsprojecting from said side panels and extending along each side of theteeth therein, said ribs projecting from said panels at least as far asthe teeth project from the panel.

9. A combined shredder and colander comprising an integral bowl-shapedbody, said body having a plurality of generally fiat side panelsdisposed in downwardly converging relation and joined at their bottom bya bottom panel having an unobstructed lower surface adapted as a handrest when said body is inverted, rounded corner panels joining the sideedges of said side panels and extending to the tops thereof to form acontinuous planar rim on said body, said side panels having shreddingteeth projecting outwardly therefrom, and outwardly projecting smoothlyrounded guard ribs projecting from said side panels and extending alongeach side of the teeth therein, said ribs projecting from said panels atleast as far as the teeth project from the panel.

10. A combined shredder and colander comprising an integral bowl-shapedbody, said body having a plurality of generally fiat side panelsdisposed in downwardly converging relation and joined at their bottom bya bottom panel having an unobstructed lower surface adapted as a handrest when said body is inverted, rounded corner panels joining the sideedges of said side panels, said side panels having shredding teethprojecting outwardly therefrom, and outwardly projecting smoothlyrounded guard ribs projecting from said panels at least as far as theteeth project from the panel.

MAX HAYMAN. CLARENCE W. GALEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,915,869 Rowley June 27, 19331,975,919 Biggane Oct. 9, 1934 2,323,863 Feemster July 6, 1943 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 21,791 Great Britain Sept. 25, 1912

